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Alaska Natives are certainly pleased that the mountain formerly known as McKinley is now officially Denali, the name people who, say, live in Alaska have called it for years. But those in Ohio, the home state of 25th president William McKinley, are peeved their man has lost the honor. John Boehner says he is "deeply disappointed," Republican Sen. Rob Portman says it is "yet another example of the President going around Congress," and Republican Rep. Bob Gibbs slams it as a "political stunt" that's "insulting to all Ohioans," reports Fox News. Gibbs, who says he will "determine what can be done to prevent this action," argues the mountain can only be renamed with an act of Congress since a law was passed naming the peak Mount McKinley in 1917.

According to the White House, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell had every right to rename the mountain with a secretarial order. The Interior Department says Alaska has been trying to change the name to Denali—the Athabascan word for "the high one"—since 1975 and the US Board on Geographic Names had been deferring to Congress since 1977. In cases where the board fails to act "within a reasonable time," a 1947 law states the Interior has the authority to alter a landmark name. Jewell says the new title is "in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska," noting in the order, "President McKinley never visited, nor did he have any significant historical connection to, the mountain or to Alaska," per Politico. (Meanwhile, the Washington Post runs down five other landmarks that got new names.)

Barack is just jealous! He will never have the love and respect of the people enough to ever get anything named after him. So if he can remove another President's name from a monument, he does so at the first opportunity. (He has Obamacare, which he created himself to name after himself) HA!

eSage

Sep 1, 2015 12:02 PM CDT

As a resident native of Ohio, I feel I need to point out that it's only the do-nothing Republicans in the state that are making a fuss over the name change. Boehner should've been kicked out years ago for malfeasance and ineptitude. And don't get me started on Kasich...that political luddite has done absolutely nothing for the state, yet is quite happy to take all the recognition from thousands of hard-working Ohioans, Democrats and Republicans alike, who have had to put up with his mucking about. And now the joker wants to be president? It all boils down to anything the Republicans can push as a sham against Obama, and they're perfectly willing to lie, cheat and steal to make their point like claiming all Ohioans are pissed at the change. As for me, a certified Ohio-born citizen, I applaud the return to the original name of the mountain. The only thing McKinley means to me is that he's a dead past president.